French President Releases Blistering Statement to Donald Trump

Tuesday continues to forecast an extremely busy day as the Paris Climate Summit nears. France’s President Emmanuel Macron had some choice words for Donald Trump in an CBS News interviewconducted by CBS News anchor Jeff Glor on Monday.

This interview comes following Trump’s announcement in early July that the U.S. would be removing itself from the treaty and would not participate in this years Paris Climate Summit.

“It’s extremely aggressive to decide on its own just to leave, and no way to push the others to renegotiate because one decided to leave the floor. I’m sorry to say that. It doesn’t fly,” Macron told Glor.

The Summit is an event organized to address the global warming crisis that has proven alarming to many. In a WashingtonPost article written by Philip Rucker of The Washington Post, he details Trump’s thoughts on this particular issue. “Trump, who has labeled climate change a “hoax,” made good on a campaign promise to “cancel” the Paris agreement and Obama-era regulations that he said were decimating industries and killing jobs. The president cast his decision as a “reassertion of America’s sovereignty,” arguing that the climate pact as negotiated under President Barack Obama was grossly unfair to the U.S. workers he had vowed to protect with his populist “America First” platform.”

The United States withdrawal from the climate is not the only decision Macron has disagreed with by President Trump. Trump’s recent announcement to relocate the capital of Israel to Jerusalem was another subject the France President opened up about. “I told him, I thought it was a mistake, and that such a unilateral decision is not compliant with our international discussions and our international rules and will not facilitate a peace process.”

Macron stated he had several phone conversations with Trump on the matter but eventually realized they would just have to “agree to disagree.” “I mean, he told me the rationale of his decision. I told him that for me, it’s not the right announcement, but at the end of the day, you decide for your own. And he decided for the U.S. I decided for France, which is normal.”

You can find footage of the interview with Macron regarding the climate summit below:

FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON: I think the withdrawal — to be totally fair with you — created a huge momentum to me to create a counter-momentum.

GLOR: You say you’re in better shape now because of this withdrawal. That the president did you a favor?

MACRON: I think today we have a momentum, because I think we have two phenomenon. So withdraw of the U.S., which for me is a mistake, that equates an impulse for a lot of others to say, “Okay, we have to react and do something, because it’s impossible to leave this all to — a sort of dismantling of the Paris Agreement.”

Second, a deep wakeup call for the private sectors and some of us to say, “Wow, so we have to react.” If we decide not to move and not change our way to produce, to invest, to behave, we will be responsible for billions of victims. I don’t want to be a leader in such a situation, so let’s act right now.

GLOR: [Mr. Trump] says he’s open to renegotiation.

MACRON: You know, you have more than 190 countries as negotiators. I’m not ready to renegotiate with so many people, I’m sorry, around the table. The U.S. did sign the Paris Agreement. It’s extremely aggressive to decide on its own just to leave, and no way to push the others to renegotiate because one decided to leave the floor. I’m sorry to say that. It doesn’t fly.

GLOR: You think he’ll change his mind.

MACRON: Yes, I mean my– I’m not ready to renegotiate, but I’m ready to welcome him if he decides to come back.

GLOR: How often do you speak with President Trump?

MACRON: Look, as often as we need. For instance, during the past weeks, we had probably three to four phone calls together. It’s very easy as soon as he asks for a call. I call him back and exactly the same on his side. We have very fluent and open discussions.

GLOR: And you would characterize that relationship as friendly?

MACRON: Yes, very direct.

GLOR: You talked about Jerusalem?

MACRON: Yes, exactly.

GLOR: Before.

MACRON: Yes.

GLOR: And he said what?

MACRON: He said that probably he will announce the fact that he wanted to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

GLOR: And you told him what?

MACRON: I told him, I thought it was a mistake, and that such a unilateral decision is not compliant with our international discussions and our international rules and will not facilitate a peace process.

GLOR: Was that a calm conversation? Was that a confrontational conversation?

MACRON: I think it’s always an open and direct discussion. You can agree to disagree. Which is the case between us on some issues. I mean, he told me the rationale of his decision. I told him that for me, it’s not the right announcement, but at the end of the day, you decide for your own. And he decided for the U.S. I decided for France, which is normal.

GLOR: In your estimation, does it jeopardize the peace process?

MACRON: My first concern is to preserve peace and calm in the whole region. Second, I think we have to discuss with all the parties and try to find a way out. But obviously, the reaction of the Palestinians will not be very positive. They are not in a good mood to progress towards any peace process.

GLOR: The smaller scale attacks like the one that happened in New York City today, that happened in France as well, how do you prevent those?

MACRON: You prevent them by increasing your intelligence. You can prevent them if you are — if we are much more — aggressive, I would say, in order to reduce the propaganda of the jihadists and the terrorists on the net. On top of that, if you want to prevent this kind of behavior, you have as well to better take care of your people, and help them to find a place in your society.

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